Michael A. Stackpole (23 page)

Roarke shrugged. “The Sunbirders spend most of their gold on weapons and training, which will be money well spent given what we need on our expedition.”

The far end of the tunnel opened onto a massive courtyard that was split down the middle by an elevated walkway linking front to back. All around the exterior a broad marble avenue a good ten feet above the central training ground allowed people to move from one part of the temple to another without disturbing the Novices, Brothers, and Sisters being put through their paces by Teachers and Priests.

The walkway bridging the entrance to the Inner Sanctum arched up over the practice field and gave me a bird’s-eye view of how members of the Sunbird Church were trained. Cadres of a dozen put themselves through a host of physical-conditioning drills and weapon-skills exercises. All in all, what I saw reminded me of my grandfather’s training regime, though easier.

Roarke pointed toward some of the rooms accessible from the exterior walkway. “The Church, in addition to being a training ground, has developed knowledge that is very good in helping to rehabilitate warriors who have been wounded. They also take care of old warriors and have a division of their brethren devoted to recording histories.”

At the far end of the bridge a man waited for us. He smiled at Roarke and acknowledged me with a nod. “I am Valarius. 1 will conduct you to the Bishop.” I could tell from a rank badge with seven small, equilateral triangles in a circle on it that he was a Priest. “If you will follow me.”

Valarius led us back into a much more grandly appointed area of the temple. Here I saw the murals and statuary I would have expected in a temple, though these were far more martial in nature than I had seen in other places of worship. Whereas another temple might have a dozen little alcove-shrines in the corridors, each one with a statue reflecting another aspect of the god or goddess being worshiped, the Sunbird temple had these filled with tributes to heroes. Some were beautifully executed statues, while others contained suits of armor and weapons. By that standard the antechamber of my suite could have been a Sunbird shrine, but here the weapons and armor seemed more suited to contemplation than actual use.

Valarius brought us to a small, enclosed arenalike area built down into the floor. I recognized it as similar to the type of area used to judge duels or tests to determine if a student had sufficient knowledge to pass from one rank to another. 1 had never been in such a place before, but my grandfather had described it in exquisite detail on a number of occasions—generally using it as an illustration of where I did not want to be when I again made whatever stupid mistake he had previously corrected me for.

“Gentlemen,” Valarius said as he pointed to the person on the arena floor, “this is Bishop Osane.”

The Bishop to whom Valarius led us did not at all fit my idea of a holy man. That probably stemmed, initially, from his being a holy
woman
and her being relatively young. I had been expecting a man with a long beard and wrinkles deep enough to draft a ship, and instead 1 found a tall, powerfully built woman working her way through a series of fighting stances and parries with blinding speed. She had to be of Champion rank in skill with the hand-and-a-half sword she used.

Clad in boots, a loincloth, and a padded leather tunic, Osane swung the blade through a cut that would have bisected anything less stout than an ox, then laid the sword on a stand. She wiped her forehead on the back of her right sleeve. She had tied her light brown hair with a cloth at the back of her neck, and the light from oil lamps flickered gold highlights into it. In her eyes I detected a hint of
Chaosfire,
but barely enough to mark her a veteran of more than one campaign beyond the wall.

“Thank you, Valarius.” Osane slowly walked up the steps to the level on which we stood. She watched me closely, and I felt uneasy under her steady gaze. I felt as if I were being studied by a predator.

She shifted her gaze from me to Roarke. “From what you related to Valarius, and what he has passed on to me, this expedition you are planning into Chaos is purest folly. A dozen individuals are to convince Lord Fialchar to hand over the Staff of Emeterio? I know there must be more to it than that, but I cannot imagine how the truth could be any better than the fiction.”

“True enough, Holiness.” Roarke glanced at me. “I told Lachlan that the Church of the Sunbird would have no interest in this and would not participate. Still, he’s an optimistic youth …”

My eyes grew wide with surprise, betraying Roarke’s deception. Somehow 1 got the feeling he had not fooled t he Bishop, who had expected me to be taken by surprise. I shook my head, and she smiled openly.

“Oh, 1 know of you, Roarke, and I know this is all your doing.” Osane narrowed her silver eyes. “I know enough of you to know that anything that would have you going back into Chaos must be something special. This forced me to evaluate the unknown and decide if it would be in our best interest to aid you.”

1 kept a smile from my face as the Bishop made her comment. The Church of the Sunbird had pushed the Ward Walls out to reclaim Tarris from Chaos nearly a century back, despite an Imperial prohibition against such action. That released many Chaos creatures into the Empire, and the Church of the Sunbird had been doing its best to make amends since that time. If she felt the Church’s participation in our mission would help rebuild the Church’s reputation, she would give us help.

Our mission, if we succeeded, would certainly go a long way toward redeeming the Church’s reputation. It certainly would not hurt the career of the Church member who went along with us. The Church of the Sunbird considered fighting against Chaos a sacred duty, and a mission like this, if not divinely inspired, certainly could be seen as divinely mandated.

Osane closed her eyes for a second and mumbled a prayer. “I have discussed this matter with my superiors.

It is clear this enterprise is very important, and we should encourage its success.”

Roarke nodded. “That was our reasoning behind approaching the Church to have someone to come along with us.”

“I am glad you approve of our thoughts, Roarke.” Her eyes opened again. “It has been decided. I will join your group.”

Roarke looked stunned. “You, Holiness?”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Osane watched Roarke carefully. “Did you think we could entrust the mission to someone who has less training or ability?”

“Ah, no, just, I, ah,” Roarke shrugged. “I would not have thought the Church would risk so valuable a member of the clergy on so chancy an expedition.”

She smiled easily, clearly pleased she had confounded Roarke. “Suffice it to say, Roarke, I am more at home in Chaos than I am here. My restlessness disturbs some of my superiors. By mutual consent we have decided I would represent the Church in this matter.”

“I see.” Roarke offered her his arm, and she grasped it firmly. “We are pleased to have you with us, Bishop Osane. Locke, give her the medallion.”

I handed it to her, and she hefted it in her right hand. “I will see to it the Emperor gets more than he pays for.”

Outside the temple, I stopped Roarke. “What did she mean when she said she was more at home in Chaos than she was here?”

The Chaos Rider shrugged. “Many of us who have been out of the womb feel ill at ease here. Apparently she is one who does.”

“But she has next to no C
haosfire
in her eyes. How often could she have been there?”

Roarke smiled. “Far more than I have, Locke. The l.ick of
Ckaosfire
has more to do with protection from her deity than it does any lack of experience in Chaos. Aside from Nagrendra, she probably has more time in chaos than anyone in our company.”

“But if the Sunbird can prevent her from being w.irped by Chaos, 1 mean if he has that much power over Chaos, why doesn’t he sweep it away?”

“Locke, have you ever captured a fly and tossed it into a spider’s web?”

I nodded. “Sure.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to see what would happen.” 1 folded my arms across my chest and looked down, embarrassed by the cruelty of that sort of thing. “It was something to do—1 was a child.”

“Locke”—the one-eyed man patted me on top of the head—“the gods get bored, too, and who’s to say they’re all that grown-up anyway?”

18

_R

oarke and I parted company as he headed to the Umbra and I started back toward the palace. The addition of Bishop Osane to our group buoyed my feelings about the mission. I knew our chances for survival were still slim, and chances for success even more slender, but now I felt they were sufficient that magickal augmentation wasn’t necessary to see them.

The fact that I wasn’t more terrified about the trip surprised me. I knew that my ignorance of the realities of Chaos was insulating me from fear. Likewise, the sheer urgency of the mission and the need for its success made acknowledging fear counterproductive. 1 couldn’t afford to be afraid, so 1 wasn’t. As much as that state of affairs seemed to work well at the moment, I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with what the future would bring.

Focusing on all 1 had to deal with in studying the

Chaos model, I came around a corner and slammed full on into a woman, knocking her down. I immediately bent down to help her back up and found I knew her. “Xoayya, this is a surprise.”

She let me pull her to her feet. “It was at that.”

1 smiled. “You mean you didn’t see us meeting here?”

“Oh, I did, but I did not see far enough to see our collision.” She let the green velvet cloak close around her, then lifted the fur-trimmed hood up to hide her coppery hair. “I have to speak with you. 1 have to ask you something.”

“Ask away.”

She looked up at me with an intensity to her stare that almost made me recoil. “You must take me with you into Chaos.”

“What?” Her demand stunned me. 1 couldn’t even begin to guess how she could have heard of the expedition—I didn’t see her as someone frequenting the Umbra, or associating with those who did. Beyond that, I couldn’t see her surviving for a moment in Chaos. “Not possible, Xoayya.”

“Don’t say that, Locke.” She reached out and clutched my right arm with both hands. “I have to go. It is my destiny.”

Her grip hurt. “I can’t take you with me. The party is set—all of the Imperial Medallions have been given out.”

Xoayya shook her head. “I know that, Locke. I have
seen
you give them out. Roarke and Eirene will go, as well as Nagrendra and Tyrchon and this Sunbird Bishop. The medallion you gave them only entitles them to draw provisions and equipment from Imperial stores. I will pay for my own passage.”

“This will be a combat mission, Xoayya, not a garden tour.” I tore my arm from her grasp to show her how weak she really was. “We will be fighting for our lives.”

“I know.”

“Then you know you have no place there with us.”

Her blue eyes slitted. “What I
know,
Locke, is that you will have need of me. No, I cannot fight like a soldier, but I am
not
without other uses. I know some healing magicks, and if you are fighting, I think you will find those skills useful.”

I shook my head. “The trade-off comes from the need to protect you from attack. You can’t go with us.”

She glanced down, and the tone of her voice shifted from demanding to a plea. “But I
must
go. It is my destiny.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You have
seen
yourself with us?”

She hesitated, and I sensed a battle within her as to whether to lie to me or not. “No, I have not seen it, but it has been seen. Visions about myself, about important things, are always slow in coming, or woven in analogy so I cannot figure them out clearly.”

“But you knew we would meet here.”

She shook her head. “No, I knew you would be passing through the area around the palace, and this is the most direct route from the Temple of the Sunbird.”

“So you don’t know that going to Chaos or meeting me here is really part of your destiny, do you?”

“It is, Locke, it truly is.”

“You say that, but you’re not convincing me of it.”

She again grabbed my arm, but more gently this time. “I
can
prove it to you.”

“How?”

“Come with me to my grandmother’s house.” Xoayya’s face brightened as confidence filled her voice. “She first recognized my talent and has been my mentor. She is the one who has seen me in Chaos, along with you and Kit. She will convince you that 1 must go with you.”

I wanted to say no and continue to reject her request, in her mind, because she believed in the immutable veracity of visions, the fact that she had been seen in Chaos meant she had to be allowed to go along, i had no such belief in visions, so for me what she and her grandmother had seen could have been nothing more than dreams born of rumors. The fact I hat she knew about Bishop Osane long enough before I did to be waiting for me did add weight to the truth of at least some of her visions, but that weight was truly underwhelming.

What tipped my decision in favor of meeting her grandmother was my hope that I could reason with the old woman and use her influence to keep Xoayya in the Empire. It didn’t take any talent to see that our expedition would be hard on Xoayya and could very easily kill her. While I did feel responsible for everyone going on the expedition, and didn’t want to see any of them injured or killed, the fact was that they had all made informed decisions about their travel into Chaos. Xoayya was basing hers on visions that could have been the product of indigestion, which is not a good reason to go out and put your life in jeopardy.

1 nodded. “Lead on.”

Xoayya took my hand in hers and conducted me through Herakopolis. We left the Palace hill district and traveled away from where my grandmother lived. We skirted the open market, cutting around to the north to remain in the more affluent areas of the city. Once in Eastern hill district, we climbed up a steep street to a narrow home crowded between others of a similar design. They probably had as much square footage as tour.” 1 tore my arm from her grasp to show her how weak she really was. “We will be fighting for our lives.”

“I know.”

“Then you know you have no place there with us.”

Her blue eyes slitted. “What I
know,
Locke, is that you will have need of me. No, I cannot fight like a soldier, but 1 am
not
without other uses. I know some healing magicks, and if you are fighting, 1 think you will find those skills useful.”

I shook my head. “The trade-off comes from the need to protect you from attack. You can’t go with us.”

She glanced down, and the tone of her voice shifted from demanding to a plea. “But I
must
go. It is my destiny.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You have
seen
yourself with us?”

She hesitated, and I sensed a battle within her as to whether to lie to me or not. “No, I have not seen it, but it has been seen. Visions about myself, about important things, are always slow in coming, or woven in analogy so I cannot figure them out clearly.”

“But you knew we would meet here.”

She shook her head. “No, 1 knew you would be passing through the area around the palace, and this is the most direct route from the Temple of the Sunbird.”

“So you don’t know that going to Chaos or meeting me here is really part of your destiny, do you?”

“It is, Locke, it truly is.”

“You say that, but you’re not convincing me of it.”

She again grabbed my arm, but more gently this time. “I
can
prove it to you.”

“How?”

“Come with me to my grandmother’s house.” Xoayya’s face brightened as confidence filled her voice. “She first recognized my talent and has been my mentor. She is the one who has seen me in Chaos, along with you and Kit. She will convince you that I must go with you.”

I wanted to say no and continue to reject her request. In her mind, because she believed in the immutable veracity of visions, the fact that she had been seen in Chaos meant she had to be allowed to go along. I had no such belief in visions, so for me what she and her grandmother had seen could have been nothing more than dreams born of rumors. The fact (hat she knew about Bishop Osane long enough before I did to be waiting for me did add weight to the truth of at least some of her visions, but that weight was truly underwhelming.

What tipped my decision in favor of meeting her grandmother was my hope that 1 could reason with the old woman and use her influence to keep Xoayya in the Empire. It didn’t take any talent to see that our expedition would be hard on Xoayya and could very easily kill her. While I did feel responsible for everyone going on the expedition, and didn’t want to see any of them injured or killed, the fact was that they had all made informed decisions about their t ravel into Chaos. Xoayya was basing hers on visions that could have been the product of indigestion, which is not a good reason to go out and put your life in jeopardy.

I nodded. “Lead on.”

Xoayya took my hand in hers and conducted me through Herakopolis. We left the Palace hill district and traveled away from where my grandmother lived. We skirted the open market, cutting around to the north to remain in the more affluent areas of the city. Once in Eastern hill district, we climbed up a steep street to a narrow home crowded between others of a similar design. They probably had as much square footage as my grandmother’s house, but they got it out of adding additional stories.

Xoayya let me in through the cast-iron gate, then around to a set of steps leading down to a basement. The steps cut beneath the wide stairs leading to the building’s main entrance. In most houses she would have been bringing me to the servants quarters, but what little I knew of her grandmother left me no doubt she owned the entire building.

As Xoayya led me into the dim, musty basement 1 was struck by the similarity to the suite of rooms I used at my grandmother’s house. At first glance the resemblance was difficult to see, but I went more by feel than any objective evidence. In some ways the basement was the antithesis of my father’s room. It was cluttered and unorganized, dark and smelling of mildew and dust. Like my father’s rooms, I doubted this place had changed much in the past two decades, though time had managed to decay everything in it.

What struck me as similar to my father’s rooms was the vast collection of artifacts and specimens that could have come from no place other than Chaos. The snarling faces of Chapanthers—some with full racks of stag antlers—haunted darker corners of the rooms, while their pelts carpeted the floor. More than one Chaos creature had been stuffed and mounted as if in mid-attack. The displays were impressive enough to provide a foundation for the fear I had earlier ignored.

They also strengthened my resolve that Xoayya should not be allowed to travel with us to Chaos. A rearing skunk-bear held its white paws wide, ready to crush and rend Xoayya, while a flare-hawk in mid-stoop flashed talons toward her. The innocent dropping of her hood and unfastening of her cloak while at the center of this disastrous tableau reinforced her unsuitability for our expedition.

Moving further into the room, past a sable lion that looked enough like a
Bfiarasfiadi
to scare me, I saw Xoayya’s grandmother seated at a table. She wore a robe of white and had gathered her white hair into a tight coil at the back of her head. That added to the severe aspect of her visage—an effect heightened since all the light on her face came from the melon-sized crystal ball resting in the center of the table.

I vaguely recalled having met her at my grandmother’s home. I bowed in her direction. “Greetings, Madam Jasra.”

“And to you, Lachlan.” She beckoned me forward. “I know why you have come.”

“Good.” I could not suppress a smile. “Perhaps you know how our discussion will end as well.”

“Oh, I think I do indeed, and that ending begins with you draining the mocking tone from your voice.”

That stung. “I apologize. I did not intend to mock you.”

The old woman smiled ever so slightly. “If you choose to believe that, so be it.” She looked over at Xoayya. “Though our discussions will concern you, you are not to be part of them. Go prepare our guest some tea and biscuits. I will let you know when it is time to serve them.”

“Yes, Grandmother.” Xoayya bowed her head and wandered off toward a doorway I assumed led to stairs.

Jasra turned her attention back to me. “Before we begin, I wish to thank you for suggesting to Xoayya that she could use music to discipline her thoughts. You have done what I and others could not do. What you have done will be of great benefit to her and to you “

I nodded and sat across from her. “I am glad I was able to help her. She is very special, and seeing her in pain is not something I want.”

“Which is why you do not want her to accompany you into Chaos.”

“No good will come of her joining us.”

lasra stared at me intently, her chaos-filled eyes dark and narrowed. “You are correct: no good will come from her travel into Chaos with you, but that does not obviate the need for her to go.”

My jaw dropped. “You agree that she will come to harm there, and you still want her to go? What kind of grandmother are you?”

“One who will not stand in the way of destiny.” Her chin came up. “The same sort of grandmother as Evadne is, since she will gainsay neither of her grandsons their expedition into Chaos.”

“No, no, there is a world of difference between Kit and I going and Xoayya joining us. Kit and I are trained in combat, which will help guarantee our ability to deal with Chaos. Physically we’re stronger, too. This journey will be hard even before we reach Chaos. I traveled with Xoayya from the City of Sorcerers to Herakopolis, and she’s not ready for this sort of journey.”